2021-01 January 2021 Prep Journal and To-Do Lists

I went to town again yesterday and purchased eight more cases of canned goods- tomato sauce, tomato paste, corn, and green beans. I also picked up two more cases of olives at Costco and got four more empty buckets from the bakery for collecting maple sap. Still need around 32 more, I think, need to do the math again to know for sure.

Today hubby and I are cleaning garlic that we grew last summer and haven't gotten around to doing anything with yet. We will put about a third of it in the freeze dryer today, will do another third next week, and then we will count out our seed stock and whatever is left can go in the freeze dryer the next batch.

To fill the freeze dryer today I opened 8 small cans of mushrooms that have been sitting in the pantry for ages. We rarely use them because I do not care for the texture of canned shrooms. I decided to freeze dry them, then powder them in my food processor, and then I can just add some mushroom powder whenever I happen to be cooking something that would benefit from the addition. I like the nutritional aspect of mushrooms, just not the texture. And this way I do not have to worry about the canned ones going bad. win win.

After I picked up a few cases of canned goods earlier in the week I had to do some cleaning and reorganizing in the pantry to make room for everything. Hubby buys a lot of cases of canned goods at Costco and the cases are actually cardboard (tagboard?) cartons. We put them on the shelf on their sides and then just open the end of the carton and remove a can as needed. But whereas I will empty the cartons once we have removed 4-5 cans, apparently hubby doesn't, lol. So I discovered that many, many cartons that I thought were almost full in fact only had 2-3 cans in them. I emptied 14 cartons while I was cleaning, which revealed a lot of extra space, which is why I decided to go back to town and get more while the sale was still on.

But this is what struck me while I was packing away all of the extra cans last night and this morning- each one of our shelves holds either 44 pint jars and/or 15 ounce cans OR 27 quart size jars. If I stocked an entire shelf with just one variety of canned fruit/veggies that would still not be enough for even one can a week for a year. I did the math earlier to find out how many cans we would need if we wanted to eat more than one a day instead of one a week and the total is staggering- can't remember now, but over 400 cans. And if the SHTF and we could not purchase food for say, a year, we would likely consume three cans a day between the three of us- and that is in addition to whatever we were able to grow/hunt/scavenge, or otherwise produce, so that would come to 1068 cans. Of course we also have freezers full of meat and other edibles, and we have 50-60 5 gallon buckets of various types of grain, rice, etc., so I don't think we are going to starve any time soon. But I also think that we could keep a lot more cans on hand than what we currently have- just in case!

Yes, salsa! DD9 opened a pint jar today and ate half of it all by herself- she loves it!

We do some canning, but the past couple of years have been rough and we just have not gotten enough things planted in the garden, or canned. I still have 8 milk crates full of potatoes down in the basement that never got canned- and hubby told me today that some of them are starting to sprout. sigh.. So I am going to work on those this week to see what I can salvage. If nothing else the dogs can eat them, but I really wanted some for us because we did not can any last year, either.

I am always amazed when I haul the recycling to the recycling center, because we do use a lot of home canned foods, yet we still seem to have a lot of empty cans and some plastic containers to recycle. Makes me wonder how many food containers a large family that buys all of their food has to dispose of each week.

I remember when I did the math on how many cans/jars I would need for a year ... Two teenagers and two adults. The way those kids eat, it was over 4000 jars of just the basics! No wonder families aren't canning and growing with both parents having to have incomes. It's a full time job just to keep food in the house!
I have made it a goal to be sure I have those 4000 jars and twice as many kids in storage, but there isn't food in them. I have slacked off a lot since covid on keeping things stocked, just bc I don't want to go to the grocery store. As a result, we have been living off of a lot of the same foods we would eat if TSHTF. I get really anxious when he get down around the 90 day supply mark. But I have a six month supply of most things. Even a 90 day supply is still 1000 jars/cans. But, even if I were to grow inside under lights, it would take me 90+ days to get production going.

I bit the bullet last night and bought an Alaska mill for my chainsaw so I can make lumber out of my downed trees. I'll buy the bigger Stihl saw I need locally. They have wonderful customer service there, very helpful with my first Stihl.

My doctor's office called to cancel my appointment AGAIN this morning. Good thing I checked my phone. I'd missed the call and would have driven in for a non-existent appointment.

Eta: I ended up texting with our friend, TL, this morning right after I posted. We talked over using the Alaskan mill, as he also has a lot of trees down from the storm and a pile of logs just waiting to be turned into lumber.

Then we decided it was a good day for a dump run. Abby came along to help get stuff in and out of the back of TL's truck. He has the canopy on it right now, which makes it a bit more of a challenge for us old folks, lol. She hops in and out like it's nothing, the show off! It's always good to get rid of the trash...makes me feel like maybe I've accomplished something. 😊

When we got back, we walked my woods so he could see what all I had down. I didn't try to keep count, but I noticed more damage this time. I wouldn't be surprised if I had more than 2 dozen trees down, snapped off, or halfway down and in need of careful felling. Lots of lumber, firewood and chips in my future.

After he left, I brought in enough wood to finish filling the hearth, fed chickens and gathered eggs, which is always an adventure with free range hens, and did a bit more clean up outside.

By then, it was starting to rain, so I'm curled up by the fire, enjoying a bit of a break before I sweep and steam mop my floors and rearrange my livingroom. After posting this, the plan is to watch the videos on using the new mill while I clean. Abby got YouTube set up on the livingroom TV (I must get her to do mine next ☺), so I can multitask.

midtnmama, it seems like these days, YouTube is my go-to for just about everything! We watched a couple videos on using the mill, and then Abby went down the rabbit hole of horse logging, more lumber making videos and who knows what else. I think she's now as eager to get our mill up and running as I am. Not that I think she'll be willing to run it, but she'll be out there watching!

More cleaning and organizing was on the menu for today, both inside and out. I still haven't actually moved the furniture around yet, but everything is getting nice and clean. 😋 I machine washed and semi-dried a bunch of throw rugs yesterday and had to take the vacuum to my dryer! If I needed any proof that we have sandy soil, I would not need to look beyond the deposits left in my dryer. 🙄

I did some scraping and shoveling in the henhouses, spread fresh shavings and filled all the oystershell pans, in addition to the usual chicken chores. 15 eggs were laid in the henhouse nests, as opposed to only 4 yesterday. Seems like every other day they decide to go walkabout to lay. I found a total of 22 eggs from about 45 hens... they are either hiding the rest of the eggs or I have a lot of slackers!

My son-in-law grew up in a household where they called a repairman or handyman for any chores or repairs. Now he uses DH's input and YouTube videos as his guides to do-it-himself. He was so excited a few weeks ago when he figured out the problem with their dryer, bought the part, and fixed it by watching YouTube. I actually had tears in my eyes listening to him proudly telling DH how he was able to take care of the repair himself.  

I love to watch YouTube videos on slow, sustainable living, especially those from Ireland. In the evening they are so calming and a good way relax before bedtime. 

midtnmama,  This week I have been concentrating on cleaning the kitchen. I cleaned the appliances, organized the cabinets and cleaned them all with Murphy's Oil Soap. I still have to clean out the drawers, clean the inside of the refrigerator and the wood floors, but this is the weekend, I'm retired, and I have all next week to finish the job!

I cooked a large batch of rice and another of lentils. I'll keep some out to use in meals this week and freeze the rest.  I still cook for 5 even though there are just 2 of us now, but that gives me a leftovers to freeze for a quick meal another day. 

Time for a cup of tea while I wait for the winter storm to arrive - finally - we have had only 6" of snow all season. We are on the border of 2-4 and 4-6 inches. I am hoping for 6". 

nbc3mom,

Are they :
Beltaine cottage and Mossy Bottom youtube channels?

Thanks midtnmama, nbc3mom,